Research Areas

Mid-Ocean Ridges and Rifting

Studying how mid-ocean ridge systems form and evolve is important for understanding plate tectonics, as well as for understanding the interplay between the formation of oceanic crust and hydrothermal vent systems. I am interested in using geophysical techniques to study the mid-ocean ridge systems. I am involved in studies using seafloor gravity, compliance, and sea bottom water pressure measurements. Seafloor gravity measurements can help constrain subsurface density anomalies. Compliance is the measure of how the seafloor moves in response to ocean waves, a quantity that is directly related to the shear modulus of the rock. Therefore this technique is good at detecting thin layers of melt material, which have low shear strength. Another technique I use for these studies is seafloor geodesy. To do this, sea bottom water pressure measurements are used as a proxy for seafloor height. Changes in seafloor height can be caused by subsurface movement of magma, eruptions, or tectonics.

Geologic Storage of CO2

Increasing amounts of anthropogenic CO2 are being produced each year, contributing to global warming. I’ve been involved in the Sleipner Project, the world’s first large scale environmental storage effort. Sleipner is a natural gas field in the North Sea where excess CO2 is being separated from the produced natural gas and injected into a saline aquifer about 1000 m below the seafloor at a rate of about 1 Mton per year. I have been involved in combining the results of 4-D seismic surveys and time-lapse gravity surveys to constrain the density of the in situ CO2.

Crustal Deformation Studies

Studies involving deformation of the Earth’s crust are important in determining properties of the crust and mantle. An example is monsoonal flooding in Bangladesh, which causes annual fluctuation in the height of the crust.
Mid-Ocean Ridges and Rifting